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Monday, June 22, 2009

A GOLDEN DHALL CURRY

Sometimes I wish I hadn't started a food blog because it entails not just cooking or baking but also of planning, of setting up the food so that it looks like it's supposed to, so that colours match, that utensils are appropriate, that the light's pretty, that the camera's battery's fully charged or nearly so, that the memory card isn't full, that my boys aren't in some pitiful or extreme state of hunger, when hub isn't needing me, when I am, myself, not licking my lips at the food with soulfully hungry eyes but most crucial of all, when I have managed to rip my butt off from whatever it is that it's attached to. See how hard it is? It is.

But it's fun too. When it's fun. When the sweat isn't dripping off my brow and down the view finder, when the tripod is feeling frisky enough to join me, when I get to play around with bowls and plates and when no one's salivating on the fringes. Yes it can be fun.

And it would be even better if I made something ridiculously easy to the point of being absurd and that it were so full of flavour that the dish was bursting at the seams.

And that was what I thought of this little dish of dhall curry. It was bursting at the seams . With flavour. It was so good it was unbelievable. This may sound like an exaggeration but it's not. I loved it so much. So much better than the mamak man's dhall curry. So much better than the dhall curries that I have tasted or ever made. So good that I'll watch Food Safariagain.

For this was where I got the recipe from. It looked ridiculously easy and ridiculously good even as it shone through all those flickering morsels of light from my tv. When I saw how Maeve O'Meara went "YUMMMM" and how her brows pulled together over the bridge of her nose with pleasure, how she closed her eyes for a split second as if in pain I knew she wasn't pretending. I knew it must have been sooo good. So I made it. And I wasn't disappointed. At all. I ate it with some huffy puffy Pita Bread that I had made.

The recipe............from memory..............more or less................serves 2 or 3.........

1/2 cup lentils ( I used red organic lentils)
enough water to cover the lentils with an inch or two over the top of the lentils
1/2 tsp tumeric powder
2 tsp coriander powder

Wash the lentils until the water runs clear. place it in a small pot, add the water, the powdered spices of coriander and tumeric and bring to a boil then simmer until it is soft and cooked through. Add salt and more of the water if necessary. While it is simmering and cooked through prepare the rest of the ingredients.

Pour about 2 tablespoons of cooking oil into another small pan. Heat up the oil and throw in the garlic ginger paste, curry leaves, cumin seeds, dried chillie(whole) and mustard seeds and don't be surprised if they seeds start to sputter and pop. Mix it around a little until fragrant, about 30 seconds, then pour the mixture, oil and all, into the pot of simmering dhall, add teh diced tomatoes and let simmer for another minute or two to allow the flavours to assimilate. Cook it down until the consistency is thickish but still pourable. Taste for salt. Serve. YUM...

8 comments:

hav never made dhall curry but i will now, thnx to ue recipe.my son wey will be impressed bc altho he is a full carnivorian, he likes dhall curry with roti canai n pita bread is a much healthier choice. n don't stop blogging.i'll miss u.

nice!!!!! ohh i feel you with the camera battery part ! LOL somany times i want to tkae pic and then battery dead.. kids hungyr all want to dig in...so miss that opp LOL

i seldom get to plan bec by the time i'm done coking always penat LOL....few times managed to but not always...ohh i feel the pain.and the fun LOL

my red lentil soup recipe is also on JLK...learned from middle easterners...nice jugak...nice for wintry frigid days though..with snow even better..kids used to eat that when they come in after playing with the snow...

but that one have to blend ...i thin i'll try this one....soonoh i made roti canai and roti telur today....didnt use your recipe though bec i got your email lambat so i used this one on myresipe ke apa tah...used condensed milk, margarine..ok la jugak but i nly ate the roti telur not the roti canai...i had 3 attemts at the roti telur..first one tto thick, second one too thin (as in width) third one..just perfect! lol.....kids loved it....hamzah ketp saying..GM knows how to make everything! where did she know how to make roti canai? lololololololol

Terri; do try this its very good....u cld ad pieces of fillet beef or otehr meat n make it carnivor friendly!!:)

oh thnx Terri...thats sweet....I'll miss me too! lolol

Juli; yes i think we're in the same kind of boat.....people droooling at teh fringes...it really stresses me up and I feel pressured...like now ...m making lasagna to photograpf 4 the blog and eat of course and someones already gosok perut and asking how long I wl b taking to fotograph it!And its only 5 in the evening!!

I thot if I made it early no one wll be hanging salivating and putting all that pressure on me!! LOLOLOL

oh i wanted to ask you..how to make murtabak? i had trouble buat roti telur bec i wasn't exactly sure how to make it LOLOL so i experiemnted..so i stretch it out really thin and then put that in the pan and put the filling then while in the pan fold it, or do i do all that folding etc before hand and then put it in the pan?..buatla murtabak mummy!! so can then make it too LOL

this food blogging thing is really great! instead of clling you to ask how to make it, i just come here! lol